Promotion In The Air

Austria Head Coach Werner Sallomon has eased any fears of missing out on promotion in the wake of their defeat against Poland by insisting he is still happy with the performances of his players and can't wait for tomorrows semi-final game which could see the team promoted to Division A.

Romed Vieider and his teammates are a red hot 43% from the three point line in the tournament

The hosts went down 82-78 but still emerged as group winners in a three-way tie with the Poles and also Great Britain who were squeezed out. Having already lost in the Preliminary Round, the defeat against Poland was the second of the tournament but Sallomon is far from concerned heading into the do or die game with Bulgaria.

"The game against Poland was a performance better than the last two games against Slovakia and Norway. The team really fought great - especially in the third quarter where they ran after a double- digit gap."

"I am sorry that we didn't made the win against Poland, but we are very happy that we have reached the semi-finals as the group winners."

"We look forward to the game on Friday against Bulgaria."

Austria now stand on the brink of a big basketball achievement and the party is cautiously being planned but in order to get the win they desperately crave in order to punch the dream ticket, they must handle one of the most impressive and dangerous players in the tournament.

Aleksandar Georgiev has completed five double-doubles during his six games so far for Bulgaria and is averaging 21 points and 9.8 rebounds making him not only the top scorer in the tournament but also the best rebounder too.

Throw in the fact that yesterdays loss to Sweden was the only loss for Bulgaria since touching down in Austria and hey are also the best defensive team an it really underlines just how tough it might be for the hosts.

Most importantly of all, it whets the appetite for what promises to be an intense and emotional encounter with so much riding on the game.